We want a Uganda vs Museveni contest, says Bobi Wine

Kyadondo East MP and leader of the People Power movement Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, has declared interest in running for Uganda president. He spoke to Charles Mwanguhya Mpagi.

What’s your vision for this country?

A free Uganda that offers equal opportunity, equal protection and equal punishment to everybody regardless of your background, tribe, ethnicity or gender. I want to live in a Uganda where one is proud to be a Ugandan and where one’s fortunes are determined by the content of their character. Where when you work hard, you succeed and where justice is guaranteed for everybody.

Is that achievable and where has it been achieved?

Oh yes, it is. It has been achieved in very many countries. Look at South Africa, Ghana and Kenya. And even here in Uganda it has ever been there.

People have criticised you that you do not have experience in politics, how do you respond to them?

This nation is not going to be run by an individual. It will be run by institutions. I am not presenting myself as an all-knowing leader but as a good manager who will source talent that will be put to use. We have many intellectuals here and abroad who have been silenced or deliberately keep quiet who are not taking up the mantle to transform the country and that is one of the reasons I am here.

Are you nursing an idea of opposition unity and what kind will it be if a time comes to that?

Opposition unity would mean putting aside personal, tribal, ethnic, religious and political party interests to put an end to Museveni’s rule.

So are you open to an alliance with say Dr Kizza Besigye?

Certainly! That is what we have been trying to build and God willing we shall succeed.

Does that mean that Robert Kyagulanyi may not be on the ballot in 2021?

Robert Kyagulanyi will be on the ballot because as we speak, the young people of Uganda who are over 85 percent of our population want to take up the mantle. This is a generational fight which is however not limited to our generation. We believe that having had Dr Besigye for 4 times, Ugandans want to try something else, not to write him off. Most of the contenders are out of this generation and are bush war people, soldiers who fought with Museveni. Uganda has been yearning for civilian leadership.

Does that mean that if there is going to be a ballot that has two names on it, it will have to be Kyagulanyi on top and say Besigye on the bottom (as a kind of running mate)?

We want to have Kyagulanyi versus Museveni, Uganda versus Museveni, the young versus the old, the new and functional versus the old and dysfunctional, civilian versus military.

What is your plan after you become president?

We have a very wide agenda that I can only summarise in five core principles we call the first five; The Rule of law, constitutionalism and human rights, revamping our education, and health care systems, Land and natural resources and national unity. We want to reunite our country. We want to heal it.

How do you see yourself getting into the presidency?

We are going to be voted into the presidency. We have taken the last two years awakening people, sensitising them to register to vote and transforming them from supporters to voters which we have successfully done as you notice the numbers of voters (according to Electoral Commission Voters register) have swollen the restrictions and disenfranchisement notwithstanding. It is through the ballot that we hope to ascend to the presidency.

Other people have tried before; they have all fallen short. What is different between you and them?

None of them has ever fronted an idea of the people of Uganda. Each one has fronted their grouping. In the past, there was a big disconnect between politics and the people of Uganda which we have successfully capped. You see very many people now especially the young interested in the politics of Uganda like never before.

What is your strategy to defeat election malpractice and fraud?

We have the overt and covert strategies. I will only talk about the overt. We have and continue to sensitise our people who are now ready to massively vote Museveni out and not just voting him out but to stand firm and assert their voice and protect and defend their victory.